Climate Leadership, Economic Prosperity: Suzuki

October 30, 2009 - the Green Pages
Wind turbines, southwest SK. l.p. photo

Ottawa - Canada can succeed economically while meeting targets to reduce global...

Canada Sets Aside its Boreal Forest as Giant Carbon Vault

Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk, 29 Oc'09

By banning logging, mining and oil drilling in an area twice the size of California, Canada is ensuring its boreal forests continue to soak up carbon...

Artist: Mary Jane Eichler

Organic Farming Yields Tougher Crops

by Max Ajl - Solve Climate - Sep 22nd, 2009

The future is now. What used to be scientific predictions of climate change are now upon us. This makes a major switch to organics even more urgent...

Who’s Investigating the CAFO-Swine Flu Link?

Oc 29'09 - by Tom Philpott - Grist

6 months after the outbreak, is anyone?

Who Contaminated Canada's crops?

Martin Mittelstaedt, Globe and Mail-Wed. Oct. 28, 2009
Prairie whodunit has flax farmers baffled.

A prairie flax crop, itself contaminated with GM canola "weeds!"
What a tangled web have GMOs woven! l.p. photo

Climate Change Could Push up Insurance Premiums: Exec

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Andy Blatchford - 27/10/2009

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Harsh weather whipped up by climate change has caused insurance claims to...

Palestinians Denied Water - Amnesty Int'l.

Tu. Oc, 27, '09 by BBC News - Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of...

(REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Protesters Disrupt Question Period

October 26, 2009 - CBC News

A loud protest in the visitors gallery of the House of....
=====
"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." JFK

Can Your Diet Make You Happy?

Eco Salon - Oct. 26th - '09

Farmers' Market - Regina SK. l.p. photo
Wanna be happy and kick Prozac to the curb? Start eating your...

Manitoba Pork Producers To Benefit From $70 Million More...

Editor's note: If this is "sustainable agriculture," what, pray tell, is not? l.p.

=======
Manitoba News Release
............................................................
October 26, 2009

In response to increased challenges facing Manitoba's pork industry, pork producers will now be able to access 75 per cent of their estimated 2009 AgriStability payment. This increase to the targeted advance payment will make an additional $70 million available in cash flow assistance to the industry.

"This Government is always willing to adjust programs to make sure they hit the farmgate and that's why we're announcing targeted advances to Manitoba pork producers," said federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "We're working side-by-side with the Government of Manitoba to help pork producers weather the
current storm and get back to profitability."

"The challenges facing our pork producers have neither decreased nor stabilized since June when we announced TAP funding available to help support Manitoba's pork industry," said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuk. "This additional funding will strengthen the current cash flow for producers as they persevere through this extended period of unprecedented market challenges."

Earlier this year eligible producer applications claimed approximately $22 million of the $31 million that was made
available to producers through TAP. With the new funding approximately 290 eligible producers in Manitoba will be
accessing an estimated total of $92 million ($22 M + $70 M). The average advance could now be in the range of $317,000.

The ministers noted this additional funding reflects the commitment made last June to adjust payment rates based on a producer's need for further advances and clearly demonstrates on-going support of an industry that is important to Manitoba and Canada.

Manitoba pork producers will soon be receiving a letter advising them of the advance they will be eligible to receive. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2010.

The AgriStability program is designed to help farmers deal with income reductions by providing assistance when their margins fall below average. The federal government pays 60 per cent of the
cost of the program and the provincial government pays 40 per cent.

- 30 -

Forests Count in Our Fight Against Climate Change

Science Matters - October 23'09

By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

In 1992, I attended an event that filled me with hope. Canada and the rest of the world had just signed a climate change treaty...

Biofuel Displacing Food Crops May Have Bigger Carbon Impact Than Thought

ScienceDaily (Oc 25'09) A report has found that carbon loss stemming from the displacement of food crops and pastures for biofuels crops may be twice as much as...

Canola field. l.p. photo

Poisoning Nature's Pollinators

Please visit the Sasquatch, Saskatchewan's newest alternative magazine, for my latest update on declining world populations of honeybees and the shadowy role which giant makers of agri-chemicals are playing in this tragedy. As usual, your comments are welcomed!

- the saskquatch news with a bite -

Honeybee hive - (Note queen in upper left) l.p. PinP photo

Author Larry Powell has been researching and writing about these important and endangered pollinators for some time.

Check the Sasquatch link, not just for this but other stories critical to the future of our Prairie region.
=======
Author's note: Few things smack of collusion between government "regulators," politicians and the agrochemical industry more than the honeybee debacle. While we know what these poison products are doing to the bees, they continue to be used. The message seems to be, we must solve every last facet of the CCD mystery before anything can be done. It's a bit like saying, "We might as well all keep smoking until cures for all cancers are found!" l.p.
=========

Reader's Comment:

Collapsing Bee Colony is an interesting topic for me, so I read some further places:

http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2007/03/clothianidin-neonicotinoid-pesticide.html

How do we get back control from these corporations and irresponsible governments? For instance in the voting system as is now, the Green Party will never get elected people in. And how do we keep from being boiling mad all the time at the ineptness & calculated maneuvering that "our" governments & big business are so proficient at. - Maggie Romak

=========

A new British movie is now showing in the UK on this important issue. Watch the preview, below!

Toxic Waters: Regulatory Absence Allows Chemical, Coal and Farm Industries to Pollute US Water Supplies

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. Posted October 23, 2009.

No federal regulations specifically govern the disposal of
power plant discharges into waterways or landfills...

USDA photo

Winnipeg Forest Activist Wins North America's Top Environmental Prize for Youth

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 - the Green Pages

Student Earns Award For Effort to Protect Nearly One Million Acres of Boreal Forest From Industrial Logging

Berkeley, CA-Robin Bryan, a 21-year-old student at the University of Winnipeg, will be
among the six recipients of the 2009 Brower Youth Award. Hosted by Earth Island Institute, the Brower Youth Awards are North America's most prestigious prize for young environmental leaders.
Bryan fought for years as a campaigner with the Wilderness Committee to put an end to industrial logging activity within the boundaries of provincial parks in Manitoba. Originally from Prawda, Manitoba, Bryan is now completing his degree at the University of Winnipeg.

MB Wildlands

While attending school full-time, Bryan organized rallies, spoke with elected officials, delivered classroom presentations about the issue, fundraised tirelessly,
and organized volunteers to write and collect 20,000 letters to the government.

Bryan lives in close proximity to the world's largest single land storehouse of carbon and most abundant source of fresh water, the boreal forest of the East Shore Wilderness Area in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. As a young activist canvassing with the Wilderness Committee, he "began to realize just how much is at stake both locally and globally if the ecology of this province isn't protected in historic proportions. I also began to realize just how unregulated and destructive industrial logging and mining have been in Manitoba. If I didn't begin to dream big, act fast, and lead by example, I felt that I would have to sit back and watch a historic opportunity to stand up for public lands and protect the second largest wild area in the biosphere pass me by."

In 2008, Bryan was rewarded for his efforts when the Manitoba Legislative Throne Speech banned logging in four of the five parks with logging operations. Bryan is now actively campaigning for the protection of the Eastshore Wilderness, encompassing over 100,000 square miles of Ontario and Manitoba.

In October 2009, Earth Island Institute's Brower Youth Awards will celebrate its tenth anniversary of spotlighting North America's boldest young environmental leaders. Bryan will join five other environmental leaders under the age of 23 in receiving the Brower Youth Award and a $3,000 cash prize for their achievements, while being recognized at a gala celebration in San Francisco on October 20, 2009, with 900 individuals in attendance.

The six winners were chosen from more than 125 applicants for their creative and effective work tackling problems ranging from food justice to deforestation, global warming to pollution. The thirteen judges for the award are leaders in business, journalism and the nonprofit sector, including Josh Dorfman of The Sundance Channel's "Lazy Environmentalist", Judith Helfand, the director of the global warming film "Everything's Cool", and Philippe Cousteau, CEO of EarthEcho International and grandson of Jacques Cousteau.

In the first ten years of the program, the 61 current and past award recipients have raised more than $1.4 million for environmental causes, trained more than 3,000 youth in advocacy, involved more than 32,000 in projects, implemented 20 university-wide environmental policies, passed eight pieces of legislation, organized more than 3,300 events and actions, produced more than 20 documentary films, and held 500 plus lobby meetings with elected officials.

The Brower Youth Awards are generously supported by Earth Island members, as well as Visa, Clif Bar, and Klean Kanteen. More information about the Award recipients and the Award is available at http://www.broweryouthawards. org/2009media.

Manitoba Rules Out Proposed Development At Meditation Lake

Manitoba News Release

............................................................

October 22, 2009

PROVINCE RULES OUT PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT MEDITATION LAKE
- - -

Government Renews Commitment to Work with Tim Horton Children's Foundation To Build Camp for Underprivileged Youth: Struthers

Based on water testing results at Meditation Lake and feedback
from public consultations, the province and Tim Horton Children's
Foundation will now seek another location in Whiteshell
Provincial Park for a youth leadership camp. The decision was
announced today by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Tim
Horton Children's Foundation vice-president Dave Newnham.

"We will look at an alternate location in the Whiteshell to meet
the program and wilderness experience needs required by the youth leadership camp proposal while keeping in mind the needs of current and future park visitors," said Struthers. "The public review held in the spring on the Meditation Lake proposal provided many valuable suggestions that will be considered in the review of an alternative site."

Water testing at Meditation Lake over the past summer indicated
the natural variability in water quality does not meet the
criteria for the development of a major camp. The area at
Meditation Lake will continue to provide a walk-in camping
experience and access to the backcountry for the public and there
are no plans for development. Work identifying another site is
underway and will include public consultations through an
open-house format.

The goal of the Tim Horton camp is to help provide
underprivileged youth the opportunity to learn lifelong
leadership skills through activities and experience in wilderness
settings. The proposed facility would host youth aged 13 to 17 in
an innovative youth leadership summer program and could be
available year-round to Manitoba school children and
organizations that provide strong environmental programs.

"We appreciate the support of the provincial government in
working to find and evaluate alternative sites in the
Whiteshell," said Newnham. "We are confident another site will
be found that will respect the environmental sustainability needs
of the park, and provide a unique experience for children and
youth from economically disadvantaged homes."

The Tim Horton Children's Foundation is a non-profit, charitable
organization providing opportunities for children to develop into
positive, contributing members of their communities. It operates
six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has provided unique outdoor experiences to more than 120,000 economically disadvantaged children in the past 35 years at no cost to their families.

Open houses in Winnipeg and Whiteshell Provincial Park will be
announced later this fall to review a new proposal.

- 30 -

Livestock's Contribution to Climate Change Hugely Underestimated - Worldwatch

by Robert Goodland & Jeff Anhang - WWI

Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs, and chickens?

Is Bucko Lake Doomed? Let's Make Sure it Doesn't Happen!

Call for Position Statements - Bucko Lake and Metal Mining Effluent Regulations


Local and national consultations sessions are being planned for amendments to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) in the near future. These would require alterations of our Fisheries Act, too, allowing for harmful substances (toxic mining waste) to be dumped into dammed freshwater lakes, thus turning them into Tailings Impoundment Areas - a euphemism for ruined, former life bearing lakes.

Here in Manitoba, Crowflight Minerals Inc. (see photo, below) has applied for a permit to dump their nickel mine waste into Bucko Lake, close to Wabowden, south of Thompson, a portion of the headwaters for the Grass River system, and in woodland caribou territory. Yikes. The application is in the Public Registry and Conservation is accepting comments even though the time period has passed. We asked for that.

The faces of the people who would turn Bucko Lake into a toxic dump.

It is a subsidy for the mining companies. It is cheaper to dam a lake and dump waste into it than to create a pit and pour water on it to keep the ore from oxidizing in the sun. The CEN has been asked to send delegates to a session planned on the topic of the latest proposal, for Terrane Metals Corp. to use King Richard and Alpine Creek in northern B.C. as a waste pit for their copper-gold project. I'm sure you can appreciate the chemical content in the residuals from that operation. Cyanide, for instance.

MiningWatch did a good job of intervening with the Voisey Bay project in Labrador/Newfoundland but they could use our voices to lend support to their efforts to take a lead on this issue and oppose the changes by the feds and to conduct a comprehensive study administered by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. 


We would benefit from having position statements forwarded to us by your group. There's a chance I'll be going to the next session, held in Gatineau, to learn more about this and offer up some opinions to Environment Canada and mining companies. We don't have groups working specifically on mining issues in Manitoba, but we do have several groups interested in issues of water quality, pollution prevention, and caribou habitat. I would sincerely appreciate some solidarity in the challenging of this scheme to ruin more of our dwindling fresh water supplies and pristine habitats.


For further or background information, call EC project manager Kelly Ellis at 819 934-6056 or HYPERLINK "mailto:kelly.ellis@ec.gc.ca" kelly.ellis@ec.gc.ca. Or check out CEA's website.

Thanks, Lindy Clubb - 
assistant executive director, Mixedwood Forest Society
 204 475-9608

Turkeys on an Unidentified Ontario Farm Have Tested Positive for the Swine Flu

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS - 20/10/2009

Minister says food safe.....

MANITOBA RATED SECOND IN CANADA FOR COMPETITIVENESS IN MINING TAXES

Oc 16, 2009 - Manitoba's Mining Tax Regime Excels In Report: Rondeau.

Ruttan Lk. Mine.
MB Gov't. photo

Manitoba has been rated among the most competitive provinces for mining activity in Canada, ranking number two in the country for the competitiveness of its mining tax regime, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) 2009 Canadian mining tax report, Science, Technology Energy and Mines Minister Jim Rondeau said today.

"The ranking by PricewaterhouseCoopers is welcome news as it confirms our commitment to support and strengthen the minerals industry in Manitoba," said Rondeau. "The incentives government provides, combined with our rich resources, continue to be a solid economic driver for the province's mining industry." Rondeau noted the province is committed to investing in mineral exploration and mining, and working with industry to boost the economic opportunities the sector offers. He said companies are attracted to Manitoba because of its policies for mineral investment that make it one of the best places in the world to explore. "The mining industry is appreciative that Manitoba has worked with the industry to improve Manitoba's competitive taxation climate for new mines," said Ed Huebert, executive vice-president of the Mining Association of Manitoba. "The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which analyzes the tax impact for a hypothetical new mine, shows that Manitoba has improved to second best in Canada from a taxation perspective. We look forward to a continued dialogue that will allow the industry to invest in Manitoba and increase their economic contribution to the province." The minister noted tax initiatives announced in Budget 2009 helped achieve the biggest increase of any province in the competitiveness of its mining tax system. He said, according to the PWC report, the overall Manitoba tax rate for a sample Manitoba mining operation dropped to 19 per cent from 28 per cent. Recent initiatives to support the mining industry in Manitoba include: - reducing the mining tax; - extending the mineral exploration tax credit by three years to 2012; - reducing the general corporate income tax rate to 12 per cent; - phasing out the general corporation capital tax; - extending the Mineral Exploration Assistance Program and the Prospectors' Assistance Program, which offer approximately $2.5 million in annual funding to support exploration; - entering into a $3 million partnership with the federal government to remap Manitoba's far north; and - initiating a new, $1-million Training and Workforce Retention Initiative. The mineral industry is Manitoba's second-largest primary resource industry. The 2008 value of mineral production for metals, industrial minerals and petroleum totalled $2.5 billion and the industry employed an average 5,200 workers directly with another 18,000 in spinoff jobs. Company spending for mineral exploration reached an all-time high of $141.5 million in 2008. The PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on mining taxation in Canada is a biannual assessment of the relative tax competitiveness of Canadian jurisdictions. The full report can be accessed here.

- 30 -
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is called "governing from the centre." Giving away our precious resources for next to nothing in these heady days of de-regulators and free marketeers is actually seen as a badge of honour. Making corportations pay their fair share so we can enjoy decent human services is now old-fashioned, perhaps even communistic. Human health! Environment! Beware! The centrists are on the loose! l.p.

Sask. Student's Vaccine Tightens Net Against E. Coli

Anne-Marie Hickey, University of Saskatchewan - 10/16/2009

Food and water around the world could soon become safer for human...

Canada's Rivers at Risk

Oc 14-'09 - World Wildlife Fund - Environmental Flows and Canada's Freshwater Future
Canada ranks among the world's top nations in terms of renewable water supply but...

The Waterhen, rated by

Environment CA in
'07 as Manitoba's only
"pristine" river! l.p. photo

Carbon Emissions Must Peak by 2015: UN Climate Scientist

PARIS (AFP) - – The UN's top climate scientist on Thursday urged a key conference on global warming to set tough mid-term goal...

Hunting: An Extinction Threat To Middle East's Most Threatened Bird

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2009)
Conservationists trying to prevent the extinction of Northern Bald Ibis are distraught that one of the last remaining wild bird...

Canada Quietly Asks EPA to Weaken Anti-Pollution Measures

Canadian embassy in Washington asks agency to alter plan that would force lake freighters to stop burning dirty bunker fuel...

Martin Mittelstaedt - Globe and Mail - Oct. 17, 2009

Politicians Have Failed in Efforts to Stave Off Climate Change, Now It's Up to Us

By Bill McKibben, Mother Jones. Posted October 17, 2009.

The political method has not worked so well...

Dickstone South Road License Upheld: Struthers

Manitoba News Release..........................October 16, 2009

Artist: Mary Jane Eichler

An Environment Act licence to construct and operate a temporary road to allow Tolko Industries to access potential timber harvesting areas north of Grass River Provincial Park will be upheld, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers announced today.

In August, the Dickstone Road was granted a licence under the Environment Act but the decision was appealed on the grounds it threatened woodland caribou habitat. The licence was issued following an extensive technical and public review of potential environmental impacts including impacts to woodland caribou herds. Several licence terms and conditions were included to ensure environmental protection including requirements to monitor and protect against impacts to caribou, said Struthers.

"We take protection of caribou habitat very seriously," said the minister. "That's why we have placed strict environmental conditions on the license to control and limit access to this road and to ensure ongoing monitoring and research on caribou herds in the area."

The minister noted that no timber harvesting will take place in Grass River Provincial Park in accordance with the ban on logging in 80 of 81 provincial parks announced earlier this year. In addition, all areas proposed for logging by Tolko must be submitted for approval by the province on an annual basis, said Struthers.

- 30 -

Manitoba Brings in New Rules Governing Livestock Waste

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Staff Writer - 16/10/2009

l.p. Photo

WINNIPEG - The province announced today that it is implementing new rules for livestock waste, in the wake of heated...

BC Funds Reduced-Pesticide Use Research Facilities

MB Co-Operator - Oc.15-'09

State-of-the-art labs for research into ways to reduce pesticide use will open Fri....

BIODIVERSITY: Earth's Life Support Systems Failing

Stephen Leahy - Inter Press Service

UXBRIDGE, Canada, 13 Oct (IPS) - The world has failed to slow the accelerating extinction...

West Side Power Line Could Cut Through Forest Reserves

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Staff Writer - 14/10/2009

Artist: Mary Jane Eichler

WINNIPEG — The west side power line will skirt provincial parks but it could cut through several forest reserves, according to...

Larry Writes to the Prime Minister

Please note the response from the PMs office (I'm taking his answer as a "no.") & Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May at the end.
=========
Dear Honourable Prime Minister,

Is it true that you won't be attending the key climate change summit in Copenhagen in December?

Here is what the Environment Canada website says about this.

"Canada will be represented at COP 15 by the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, and by Michael Martin, Chief Negotiator and Ambassador for Climate Change."

Surely your absence will only deepen the already deep cynicism that surrounds your commitment to fighting climate change and global warming.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already promised he will attend the Copenhagen conference, and urges other world leaders to do the same. He says such attendance is essential "to avert the grave danger that nations will face if they fail to agree on a new global pact tackling climate change."

I realize you might define Mr. Brown as a "socialist." But surely your attendance would go a long way toward showing the world that even Conservatives can care about Mother Earth!

Perhaps you could confirm your attendance/non attendance via return email.

Thank you!

Larry Powell

======

COMMENT: Great letter, Larry. I will send one too. - Anne
======
Dear Mr. Powell:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent e-mail.

Please be assured that your comments have been noted, and that they will receive due consideration from the Minister, whom you also addressed in your correspondence.

Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister.

P. Monteith
Executive Correspondence Officer
for the Prime Minister's Office
Agent de correspondance
de la haute direction
pour le Cabinet du Premier ministre
=======
Dear Larry,

Many thanks for taking the time to write. I will be attending the negotiations in Copenhagen this December. I will also join the crowd of concerned citizens rallying on Parliament Hill on October 24th, the International Day of Climate Action.

Canadian elected officials are not addressing the issue of climate change. I attend Question Period on a regular basis, and I am appalled at the lack of attention to such a critical issue facing our country. The climate crisis continues to worsen while the parties in the House ignore the issue.

Internationally, Canada has been criticized for blocking progress at several international climate forums. Most recently, Canada received a Fossil Award during the opening day of the UN Climate Negotiations in Bangkok because Prime Minister Harper chose to visit a Tim Horton's in Oakville instead of addressing the UN.

Saturday, October 24 is a world day of action to build support for real action in Copenhagen. It is an opportunity for a huge citizen mobilization. The youth movement is rising to the challenge, but they need their parents and elders to stand with them. The new film, “The Age of Stupid” is being shown by groups across Canada. The premise is that sometime in the future an archivist/historian looks back at humanity and asks “why didn’t we save ourselves while we still had the chance?”

Will we be too busy scoring points off each other in endless rounds of political brinksmanship? Can we ensure our epitaph is not the “Age of Stupid”?

We are not powerless. We are not alone. We are the majority. We do not have the right to give up on our children’s future.

Thank you again for writing. For more information or to find out about activities in your area on October 24th, please visit the Green Party website, the Fill the Hill website, or 350.org.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth May, O.C.

Leader

Green Party of Canada

www.greenparty.ca

1-866-868-3447

Victim of Drought

A baby elephant receives a bottle of milk Wednesday at the David Sheldrick Wildlife trust which cares for orphaned elephants on the outskirts of the Nairobi national park in Kenya. Some of the baby elephants have been orphaned by one of the worst droughts in recent years affecting millions of people across East Africa.
(KAREL PRINSLOO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

What’s the Big Clucking Deal?

by Nikko Snyder - THE SASQUATCH - 
Sept/Oct 2009 (Vol I No. 4)

When citizens contacted the City of Regina to inquire about raising chickens on urban properties, the municipal fist came down hard...

Beef-Eaters be Careful! It's a "Buyer-Beware" World our There

NY Times - Michael Moss - Oc 3-'09

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection...

UK'S Lackluster Low Carbon Transition Plan

The Institute of Science in Society
Science Society Sustainability
http://www.i-sis.org.uk
l.p. photo

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/UK_lackluster_lowcarbon_transition.php
========================================================
ISIS Report 12/10/09

UK’S Lackluster Low Carbon Transition Plan
##################################

Belated, good in parts, but not green and definitely lacking
in vision. Prof. Peter Saunders and Brett Cherry

The belated

The world is shifting to renewable energies in the wake of peak oil and accelerating global warming. Contrary to exhausting supplies of fossil and nuclear fuels, renewable
energy is inexhaustible energy. In 2008, more capacity in renewable energies has been added than conventional, and the trend is continuing, with many politicians and experts considering 100 percent renewable by 2050 a distinct possibility [1] (see Green Energies - 100% Renewable by 2050, ISIS publication). The German government, for one, appears to have made 50 to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 its target [2] (Germany 100 Percent Renewables by 2050,
SiS 44)

The UK has lagged far behind. It is trailing the EU league for renewables, being third from bottom ahead of Luxembourg and Malta [3]. UK received 1 percent of its energy from
renewables in 1995; that increased to 1.3 percent ten years later in 2005, and is currently about 1.8 percent.

The UK government’s White Paper [4] is a belated attempt to salvage the situation by taking on board the message of the Stern Report [5, 6] (see The Economics of Climate Change,
SiS 33) including the positive finding that mitigating climate change is not only possible but affordable.

The good

The short term aim is that by 2020 the UK’s emissions should be reduced by 18 percent from the 2008 level, a larger reduction if the Copenhagen summit agrees appropriate
international targets. By 2050, emissions are to be cut by 80 per cent from 1990 levels, a target recommended by the Independent Committee on Climate Change as the UK’s
contribution to halving global emissions by 2050.

A separate report, The UK Renewable Energy Strategy 2009 [7] from the Department of Energy and Climate Change sets out a path to a “legally binding target” of 15 percent of UK’s
energy from renewables by 2020, reducing 750 Mt CO2 by 2030, and decreasing UK’s overall fossil fuel demand by around 10 percent and gas imports by 20-30 percent. A £100 billion new investment will create 500 000 jobs in the renewable energy
sector.

The White Paper [4] contains a great deal of detail on how the targets are to be achieved. There is a long list of measures (see Box 1) for producing low carbon energy and for reducing energy consumption, and a long appendix giving the savings that each is supposed to contribute. There is to be an EU-wide carbon trading scheme with a total that reduces year by year. There is to be support for energy conservation, for the development of renewable energy sources, for measures to reduce emissions from farms, for
the creation of more woodland to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and more. That’s the good news.

Read the rest of this report
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/UK_lackluster_lowcarbon_transition.php

Or read other articles about climate change
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/climateglobalwarming.php

========================================================
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Farmers Calling for Cull of Manitoba's Wild Elk

By: Chinta Puxley, THE CANADIAN PRESS - 12/10/2009

WINNIPEG - Bovine tuberculosis carried by wild elk is

increasingly threatening some Manitoba cattle herds...

Wild Birds Blamed for Avian 'Flu in the Fraser Valley

MB Co-Operator - Oc 9'09

Wild geese. l.p. photo
Wild birds are seen as the carriers of a "low-path" H5N2 avian flu virus that hit a turkey farm....

Millions Will Starve as Rich Nations Cut Food Aid Funding, Warns UN

The Guardian - UK - Oct.10-'09

Aid agencies fear global disaster as support for World Food Programme hits 20-year low...
=====
EDITOR'S NOTE: At the same time the US was pledging billions to bail out rich banks & financiers on Wall Street, it was cutting back on its pledge to the World Food Program by almost $1B!
Ironic, isn't it? Especially considering one of the counties to be hardest hit by such stinginess will be President Obama's ancentral home, Kenya! l.p.

Climate Change Will Hit Tropical Fisheries the Hardest

ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2009)

© QT Luong/terragalleria.com
Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect...

Eat This Recession!

7 October, 2009
Sneak preview of Wayne Roberts' controversial article from Alternatives' new issue...

The terms “shovel-ready” and “kick start” tell us that politicians turned to pre-ecological...

What If Being Fat Is Not Your Fault?

North America's Obesity Epidemic May Be Fueled by Chemicals in Everyday Products

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted October 3, 2009.

Chemicals called 'obesogens' are in our food, cars and...

Taxpayers "Shell" Out $865,000,000 for Carbon Capture Project

Pembina Institute - Posted: 09 Oct 2009

Amy Taylor, Director of Alberta Energy Solutions with the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the announcement that the governments of Alberta and Canada will provide.....
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Editor's note: Whatever became of the "polluter pay" principle? Oh, I forgot, Stephen has none! (Principles, that is.)

Wait, We Just Bombed the Moon?

Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet October 9, 2009.

Doesn't anyone else in the universe get a say in this?

Era of Cheap, Easy Oil is Over, Warns Study

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent - the Telegraph - UK
Published:08 Oct 2009

The world could start to run out of oil in the next ten years, sparking soaring ...

Grassy Narrows’ Legal Challenge to Clearcut Logging Begins

Monday October 5, 2009 - For Immediate Release:

Toronto, ON –The Ontario Superior Court began hearing evidence this week in Grassy Narrows’ case against logging on its traditional lands. Grassy Narrows is challenging Ontario’s right to approve industrial logging that interferes with its constitutionally guaranteed treaty rights. The Grassy Narrows trappers have been in the courts for close to a decade fighting to protect Treaty 3, which was signed by the Government of Canada in 1873. The trial is expected to last approximately 75 days.

“We have never given our consent to clearcut logging, and we have never given up our right to live off this land, but the government and the corporations choose to ignore this,” said Grassy Narrows representative Joseph Fobister. “The logging is destroying a way of life for our people, and we cannot allow that.”

In her decision to award costs in advance of trial, Madam Justice Spies wrote “I have no difficulty in concluding that the treaty interpretation issue is an issue of great public importance.” [1] She further stated that ”in my view this is a serious issue that had not yet been squarely decided or even considered in any case before.” [2] She explained that “Ontario would be paying a relatively small portion of the revenues it derives from forestry in the Whiskey Jack Forest to have tested, once and for all, the constitutionality of those activities, which are being carried out at the expense of Grassy Narrows.” [3]

“This historic test case will set a precedent for First Nations communities across the province whose lands are being clear-cut, strip-mined, and polluted for the benefit of multinational resource extraction companies.” said Anastasia Lintner, staff lawyer for Ecojustice.

On September 1, Amnesty International and 20 other organizations renewed their call on the Province to halt all logging in Grassy Narrows territory unless the free, prior and informed consent of the community is given. [4]

“Decades of failure to uphold the human rights of the people of Grassy Narrows have led to tragic levels of poverty, and ill health,” said Craig Benjamin, Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples at Amnesty International. “The Province could have avoided being taken to court if it respected the right of Indigenous communities to say ‘no’ to unwanted development on their lands.”

Contact:

Joseph Fobister, for Grassy Narrows: 807-466-4099

Robert Janes, for JFK Law: 250-888-5269

Kori Brus, for Ecojustice: 416-368-7533

###

Background

Government and Industry officials failed to heed decades of Grassy Narrows’ official complaints, environmental assessment requests, negotiations, and public protests [5] giving rise to a peaceful grassroots blockade that has kept logging trucks off highway 671for nearly 7 years – the longest such action in Canadian history.

On June 3 of 2008 David Paterson, CEO of AbitibiBowater, then the largest newsprint producer in the world, yielded to international pressure and informed then Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield, that the company would discontinue using wood from Grassy Narrows territory and relinquish its license to log in the area. [6] AbitibiBowater’s withdrawal has suspended logging on Grassy Narrows territory, and the Band Council has entered into talks with the Province, represented by former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iaccobucci, over the long-term management of Grassy Narrows territory. [7]

There are growing concerns, however, that the province may have already made up its mind to continue large-scale clear-cut logging in the territory, and in March of 2009 the Province unilaterally approved a plan that identifies 27 areas to be clear-cut on Grassy Narrows territory, including 17 that will be more than 260 hectares in size. [8]

Seattle based lumber giant Weyerhaeuser is pursuing trees logged on Grassy Narrows territory for its Kenora Trus Joist mill to make Timberstrand products used in homebuilding throughout North America. [9] On June 15 Calvert Investments deleted Weyerhaeuser from the Calvert Social Index of sustainable and responsible companies due to Weyerhaeuser’s failure to meet the Index’s standards for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. [10]

Sources

[1] para 234 Keewatin v. Ontario (Minister Of Natural Resources), 2006 CanLII 35625 (ON S.C.) http://www.canlii.com/eliisa/highlight.do?text=janes&language=en&searchTitle=Ontario+-+Superior+Court+of+Justice&path=/en/on/onsc/doc/2006/2006canlii35625/2006canlii35625.html

[2] op. cit. para 217

[3] op. cit. para 237

[4] http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post2.php?id=1090

[5] Correspondence dating back to 1998 can be found at : http://freegrassy.org/learn_more/resources/official_correspondence/

[6] Toronto Star, Peter Gorrie, June 5, 2008. Protest prompts Abitibi pullout.

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/437156
[7] Kenora Daily Miner and News, Mike Aiken, Dec. 3, 2008.
[8] Kenora Daily Miner and News, Mike Aiken, March 25, 2009.

[9] Kenora Daily Miner and News, Mike Aiken, Sept., 2008.

[10] http://www.calvertgroup.com/newsarticle.html?article=14727